Tokyo 2020: Team GB storm to eventing gold in Tokyo

Eventing glory for Team GB

Great Britain’s eventing team won gold after producing a dominant display in the showjumping finale at Tokyo Equestrian Park before Tom McEwen secured silver in the individual event.

The trio of Oliver Townend, Laura Collett and McEwen led by 17.9 penalties following their outstanding cross-country rounds on Sunday.

And they comfortably retained top spot, with McEwen going clear on Toledo De Kerser, Collett having four faults aboard London 52 and Townend also collecting four with Ballaghmor Class.

It is Great Britain’s first Olympic team gold in eventing since Munich 1972, while Australia took silver and France bronze.

Final British rider Townend had the luxury of knowing he could knock four fences down and still win gold, such was the team’s dominance.

All three British riders were making Games debuts, but they delivered high-class displays to end a 49-year wait for team gold.

Britain finished on a score of 86.30, and it is a third equestrian medal in Tokyo for Team GB following Charlotte Dujardin, Carl Hester and Charlotte Fry winning dressage team bronze, and Dujardin also collecting an individual bronze.

It is only Britain’s third Olympic team crown in eventing after Stockholm in 1956 and Munich 16 years later.

And the success continued with McEwen taking silver in the individual competition on Toledo De Kerser after a faultless clear round.

Julia Krajewski took gold, but Townend had two fences down to finish fifth having begun the final showjumping round in second.

Collett, meanwhile, had eight faults when the final two fences in her round dropped, finishing ninth.

Reflecting on his team round, McEwen said: “He is a class horse and a great jumper, so it was just up to me on top.

“My nerves were fine. They (Townend and Collett) are both brilliant riders, and I had no doubt they would pull it straight out of the bag quite easily and comfortably.”

And Collett, who dropped places individually after having one fence down, added: “He (London 52) was his normal self at the start, then I think there was a reflection off the water and he just spooked, basically.

“He got it back together. It’s a shame, but it could have been a whole lot worse in that situation. It was a very clever course.”

Britain’s final winning margin was 13.9 penalties as their vintage collection of cross-country performances effectively turned the gold medal race into a procession.

Collett’s gold medal comes eight years after she was left in a coma for a week after falling on cross-country during an event in Hampshire.

It left her with a punctured lung, lacerated liver, a fractured shoulder and two broken ribs, while she also lost the sight in one eye.

She told the BBC: “Just to be here was more than a dream come true, and to be stood here, with a gold medal, I look back where I was eight years ago – I knew I was lucky to be alive, yet alone do the job I love.”

And Townend added: “I didn’t know how much we had in hand, so I put myself under a bit of pressure, but these guys made it very easy for me.

“It has not sunk in. We have got another round to jump, so we focus on that, but there will be a big celebration and I don’t think it will be with a cup of tea and a biscuit.

“Let’s hope we can inspire the next generation of kids. We are all from pretty normal backgrounds. It shows that hard work and dedication pays off.”

Weightlifting silver for Campbell

Emily Campbell landed the first women’s Olympic weightlifting medal for Great Britain with silver in the +87kg category.

Campbell went into the clean and jerk section of the competition in fourth place but successive lifts of 156kg and 161kg sealed her historic place on the podium.

China’s Li Wenwen twice broke the Olympic record as she took gold and Sarah Robles of the US had to settle for bronze.

Laurel Hubbard, the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the Olympic Games, was eliminated after the snatch section of the competition after failing to register a lift.

The 27-year-old Campbell took bronze at the 2018 Commonwealth Games but announced her move into medal contention when she won this year’s European Championships in Moscow.

And she was able to head into the competition somewhat under the radar given the media circus surrounding Hubbard, whom Campbell always maintained fully deserved her place in the competition.

But while Hubbard came up short with her first three lifts, Campbell moved into contention with a lift of 122kg in snatch, placing her behind Li, Robles and South Korea’s Seon Mi-Lee.

A fail by Lee on her final attempt gave Campbell her chance, which she seized by lifting 156. When Robles was denied on 157kg, Campbell improved her colour once more by lifting 161kg.

As well as being Britain’s first female weightlifting medallist, Campbell is also the first Briton to win a medal in the sport since 1984.

Team GB qualify second but Germany smash world record

Defending champions Great Britain qualified second fastest in the women’s team pursuit after watching Germany smash the world record they set in winning gold in Rio five years ago.

Germany took almost a full three seconds off Britain’s record as their quartet of Franziska Brausse, Lisa Brennauer, Lisa Klein and Mieke Kroeger stopped the clock at four minutes 07.307secs early in the session.

The British quartet of Laura Kenny, Elinor Barker, Katie Archibald and Josie Knight went last in the session and at one point were more than a second up on Germany’s pace, but they fell away at the end to record a time of 4:09.022.

It was one of three rides in the session faster than the Rio record of 4:10.236, with world champions the United States third with a time of 4:10.118 – and they will now ride against Britain on Tuesday for a place in the gold medal race.

Laura Kenny, who had set the previous record alongside Elinor Barker, Archibald and Joanna Rowsell Shand in Brazil, predicted before the Games that the record would fall “three or four times” this week.

Germany might not have been on her list of candidates to do it, but Barker said seeing it happen so early in the session took the pressure off.

“It was really sort of good,” she said. “All the girls said the same thing. We knew the world record was going to be broken.

“We fully expected it to be the Australians or the Americans so for it to happen when we weren’t looking meant we didn’t need to worry too much because the worst had happened.”

Britain, riding last in the session, had been more than a second up on Germany’s pace at one point but fell away towards the end.

“We can be really, really happy,” Barker added. “It’s important to remember the time we did in Rio was with two teams on the track, which is worth seconds, so to go that quickly with one team shows how much we’ve gained.

“I think we were about a second faster so to be able to do that on our own is quite a big step.

“It’s just unfortunate that Germany were so much faster but I think we can be happy with that.

“I hope (Germany can be beaten). They’ve not always been the most consistent but then again we haven’t really seen them for a year and a half so maybe it’s something they’ve worked on. It will certainly be interesting.”

Biles set to return in beam final

Simone Biles will make a dramatic return to the Tokyo Olympics when she competes in the women’s beam final on Tuesday, USA Gymnastics has confirmed.

Biles has not competed since she withdrew early in the women’s team final last week, citing a desire to protect her mental health.

Afflicted by a phenomenon known as the ‘twisties’ – essentially a temporary struggle with spatial awareness – Biles pulled out of the first three of the four individual finals for which she had qualified.

However, she has been named as the third of eight starters in the beam final, for which she qualified in seventh place last Sunday.

USA Gymnastics tweeted: “We are so excited to confirm that you will see two US athletes in the balance beam final tomorrow – Suni Lee and Simone Biles!!”

Meanwhile, Great Britain's Laura Muir warned she is saving her best for last after launching her bid for Olympic glory.

The Scot clocked four minutes 03.89 seconds in Tokyo on Monday to reach the 1500 metres semi-finals.

Muir, the European champion, came second in her heat behind Canada’s Gabriela DeBues-Stafford but insisted there was plenty in the tank.

“You don’t want to have any disrespect to any of the girls out here, but I want to save as much as I can for the final,” she said ahead of Wednesday’s semis.

“It’s gone as smooth as it could be – I’ve been out in Japan for a couple of weeks now so feeling really prepared and it’s really good.

“It didn’t feel that fast so that’s good. I just wanted to qualify for the next round as comfortably as possible. So that felt really good out there today and I am looking forward to the semi-final.”